ill continue to establish more
systematic programs for the development and education of current
professionals in counterterrorism-related fields. We will substantively
expand our existing programs with curricula that includes not only
training in counterterrorism policies, plans and planning, strategies,
and legal authorities, but continuing education in appropriate area
studies, religious philosophies, and languages. We also will ensure
that personnel throughout all levels of government and in all fields
related to combating terror are invited to participate.

Yet such development and education programs must not be restricted to
current counterterrorism personnel. We will support multidisciplinary
studies throughout our educational system to build a knowledgeable pool
of counterterrorism recruits for the future. The recent National
Security Language Initiative is an essential step forward. It will help
to expand U.S. foreign language education beginning in early childhood
and continuing throughout formal schooling and into the workforce. Our
efforts to foster intellectual and human capital also will extend
beyond our borders--to academic and non-governmental forums with our
international partners to discuss and enhance our knowledge about the
critical counterterrorism challenges we confront.

In the War on Terror, there is also a need for all elements of our
Nation--from Federal, State, and local governments to the private
sector to local communities and individual citizens--to help create and
share responsibilities in a Culture of Preparedness. This Culture of
Preparedness, which applies to all catastrophes and all hazards,
natural or man-made, rests on four principles: a shared acknowledgement
of the certainty of future catastrophes and that creating a prepared
Nation will be a continuing challenge; the importance of initiative and
accountability at all levels of society; the role of citizen and
community preparedness; and finally, the roles of each level of
government and the private sector in creating a prepared Nation. Built
upon a foundation of partnerships, common goals, and shared
responsibility, the creation of a Culture of Preparedness will be among
our most profound and enduring transformations in the broader effort to
protect and defend the Homeland.

+Conclusion+

Since the September 11 attacks, America is safer, but we are not yet
safe. We have done much to degrade al-Qaida and its affiliates an